Sunday Reflection

Every Sunday I go to Mass. And I want a nugget, a sliver, a pin head worth of something to chew on for a bit, to ponder during the quiet while the collection is taken up. Alas, I spend the time reading the reflection in my Magnificat or thinking about what I would have said. So, here is what I would have said:
Today we hear about a young man, Samuel who is in the temple learning how to be a priest, a servant of God. He was brought to the temple by his mother, Hannah, who promised she would do this if God gave her a son. The man who is teaching him is Eli, who has sons of his own but they have all turned away from God. So, it is a good situation for all the parties involved. What is so striking is that Hannah keeps her promise and Samuel is obedient to his mother. How many of us would willingly give our son or daughter to God as a priest or sister?
In the reading Samuel keeps hearing God calling him, but does not realize it is God. We are the same way. When is the last time you heard God? Or maybe the better question is when is the last time you were quiet enough to hear God? God comes to us in quiet, in stillness and we live in a world of noise and distractions. It is up to us to make time each and every day to be still and listen. Then, we will hear God calling us in the same way the Andrew and Peter heard Jesus calling them.
In John's Gospel Andrew and Simon go to Jesus, they follow him so simply and with trust. When they go to Jesus he changes Simon's name to Peter and we intuit that a conversion has taken place, something major has happened. The lives of Andrew and Peter will never be the same. So it should be with us when we encounter Jesus, our lives should never be the same. And yet, they are the same. Each Sunday we come and receive Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Does it change us, to we hear the call to decrease so Jesus may increase? That is the call, it is the call of God to Samuel, the call of Jesus to Peter and Andrew and the call each one of us receives. We must live our very lives as an example to all we meet. And we can only do this through the power of the Eucharist.
What do you hear a call to? The answers are as varied as each person who heard these readings today. God has a purpose and a plan for each of us. He has a plan for us within our families, our job, our vocation, our ministry, our parish. We must take the time to say, "Speak Lord, for your servant is listening" (1 Sam 3:10b) so that we can hear Jesus say, "Come, follow me."
Then we must act on what we hear. If each person hearing these words prayed them and acted on their response our world would be transformed. So, this week, take the time each day to sit and pray and hear, so that you may know the will of God and how to follow Jesus.